Ireland was often held up as a poster-child for the benefits of economic globalisation. This book explores the nature and geography of Ireland’s economic and social transformation and assesses the prospects for Ireland’s development in the future.This book was published as a special issue of Irish Geography.

1. Geographies of the Celtic Tiger Peadar Kirby and Pa´draig Carmody 2. The spatiality of Irish manufacturing linkages in the ‘Celtic Tiger’ era Nicola Brennan and Proinnsias Breathnach 3. The Irish pharmaceutical industry over the boom period and beyond Chris van Egeraat and Frank Barry 4. The contribution of the overseas ICT sector to expanding R&D investment in Ireland Seamus Grimes and Patrick Collins 5. The role of ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ factors for accommodating creative knowledge: insights from Dublin’s ‘creative class’ Enda Murphy and Declan Redmond 6. New residential neighbourhoods within the inner city: an examination of neighbouring Peter Howley 7. ‘Germs’ in the heart of the other: emigrant scripts, the Celtic Tiger and lived realities of return Deirdre Conlon 8. Embeddedness and Innovation in Low and Medium Technology Rural Enterprises Kevin Heanue and David Jacobsen 9. Limits to FDI-driven growth in Ireland: A newspaper content analysis for investment, divestment and upgrading Rory Horner and Yuko Aoyama 10. Conclusion Peadar Kirby and Pa´draig Carmody